Deficit looms, even with cuts, official says

The size of a potential November tax levy has yet to be determined.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city schools may be able to trim $8.5 million in spending next year by eliminating 100 jobs and making other cuts, but Treasurer Carolyn Funk said there is no way to avoid a deficit.
Despite the proposed $8.5 million deficit reduction plan that must be submitted to the state by May 2, Youngstown is still facing an $11.9 million revenue shortfall for fiscal 2006-07, she said.
The district can cut only so many staff people, Funk said at a board of education finance committee meeting Thursday. Labor contracts will prevent further cutbacks, she said.
School officials have said that voters could be asked to approve a five-year double-digit tax levy in November to balance the budget, though that's an issue the board of education has yet to resolve.
Fiscal caution
Youngstown is looking at a $4 million deficit this fiscal year, which ends June 30, a condition that has prompted the state to put the district under "fiscal caution."
The situation will get worse before it gets better, Funk said.
The district spent $114 million in 2004-05, but took in $107 million, relying on a $16 million budget surplus to get through the year.
Youngstown still had an $8.8 million surplus when this fiscal year started in July 2005 and anticipated ending in the black despite expecting to spend $116.7 million while taking in $109 million.
As it turns out, a midyear cutback in state funding because of a loss of 380 pupils who moved out of the district dropped state subsidy revenue projections by $6.7 million, leaving the district facing a $4 million deficit.
That number could be trimmed somewhat as the district is running nearly $1 million ahead of anticipated receipts from the state in the form of pupil and tax subsidy payments, Funk said.
Whether that money improves the bottom line depends on the district's other anticipated receipts, Funk said, pointing out that real estate tax revenues are $2 million behind estimates. However, April is a big tax receipt month, and that number should even out, she said.
gwin@vindy.com